6 common challenges startups face and tools to deal with them

Every startup brings with it a set of challenges. If not taken care of, these challenges could have serious repercussions. In this post, we will be discussing the common challenges faced by startups and tools that could become their saviour.

Do you know that 50 million new startups are being launched every year? Out of those 50 million startups, 90 percent of startups fail. The numbers are large by any standard. The world of startups is violent and at times unpredictable. That’s why startups struggle for multiple reasons.

Some die as quickly as they were launched while some make a fortune. The ones that get successful anticipate challenges in advance and successfully stand the test of time.

In this particular post, I am going to discuss the common challenges that startups face and how they can use various tools to overcome them. Let’s take a look at them one by one:

Money

The first and most common type of challenge is to gather the money to launch a startup and keep it running. Capital is essential for hiring staff, getting an office space, development of a product, and for marketing as well.

People forget to take such costs into account and start spending as soon as some cash flows in. It results in cost-cutting, shedding of staff, and eventually going into losses.

Tools: There are tools like Silo.co and CapLinked that provide a central platform for startups to find and collaborate with investors.

Finding the right talent

As a growing startup, you need people who can wear multiple hats and are willing to work together with synergy and teamwork in a team. Thus, hiring the right talent from a pool of credible candidates is a quite a challenge.

Look into your network, and post a vacancy on social media and other job portals to find the right fit for a job. Before hiring someone, make sure the candidate has all the qualities needed for the job.

Tools:LinkedIn and Hired are one of the many tools that could be used to connect with qualified candidates.

Lack of planning and visualizing

Planning is an essential component of startup culture. It is surprising how lightly people take it and forget to cover important things like budget, resources, and potential risks as a part of their business plan. As a result, they falter and fail.

Create a detailed plan and include every little thing, so that your startup doesn’t come to a standstill when something goes unexpectedly.

Tools: There are tools like ProofHub used by hundreds of project managers and teams to plan and visualize work. It comes with a lot of features, making it an all-in-one project management software and eliminating the need to invest in too many tools.

Time management

Even 24 hours in a day aren’t always enough when you are working or leading a startup. There are always clients to be called, meetings to be arranged, and decisions to be taken. Thus, one must learn how to manage time in the most effective way.

Start with prioritizing tasks at hand and rank them in order of their importance. Give a deadline for each task so that they can be completed on an estimated time-frame.

Tools: Using an app like Todoist and ProofHub could help you stay organized and track every minute of your work.

Dealing with competitors

Despite your great product and services, the startup world is quite fierce and competitive. With so many companies fighting for the same spot, it could be challenging to stay ahead of the competition.

Having a great strategy by your side, keeping tab of the latest trends, and knowing who is doing what is going to determine your position in the market.

Tools: You can use BuzzSumo to understand what type of topics (content) are trending. To see how your brand ranks against others both globally and locally, you can try SimilarWeb.

Winning the trust of customers

For any business, the ultimate challenge is to strike a chord with its target audience and win their trust. If you wish to cement your position in the marketplace, it is absolutely essential to have a highly satisfied and loyal customer base.

Try coming up with customer-friendly policies and work towards providing top-notch services and customer experience. It could be hard initially, but with regular feedback from them, you can understand their needs. This information is helpful to create a strategy that aligns with your vision and their interests.

Tools: There are ample customer feedback tools, making them reliable resources to connect with your customers and target audience.

Remember that no great business was built overnight, and every success faced multiple challenges before becoming world-famous brands. I have just covered the seven most common challenges that startups face in today’s world. I hope you find the above-mentioned tools helpful. Do let us know in the comments if you use other tools to tackle and deal with these challenges. Keep hustling!

Vartika Kashyap is Marketing Manager at ProofHub.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)